Raven's Guidance
by snowleopard314
Summary: SPR has new cases to solve. But with Gene gone, probably for good, how will Mai deal with her visions now? With the new cases becoming increasingly intense, will she be able to figure out how to control her psychic abilities, or will she be sucked into even more danger in her dream world? Will the rest of the gang her out? And why is there a raven appearing in her dreams?
1. The Start Of a New Guide

**A/N Hello! This is my first Ghost Hunt fanfic, and it takes place after the manga ends. I am hoping to have lots and lots of fun with this, and I hope that you all have fun reading it. **

**I do not own Ghost Hunt! **

* * *

Case 1: Trapped

October 16th

A few days before

Dream:

I looked out into the darkness and noticed that the only light that I could see was coming from the glowing orbs that were floating around me. I didn't understand, this was my dream plane, but I had not been able to get here since Naru left with Gene's body three months ago. And, somehow, as I looked around the space I had entered, I knew that Gene was not coming. I wouldn't be seeing him again.

It was then that I saw a pair of glowing black eyes watching me. It wasn't in a creepy stalker way though, no, it was in a curious protective way. I found myself staring back in curiosity as well. I heard a ruffle of feathered wings as the eyes began to make their way closer to me.

In answer to the ruffling, I reached out with my hand and calmly waited for it to come closer. Though, I really don't know why I had done that. It wasn't usually like me to invite something unknown to me. Especially in my dreams.

In no time at all, whatever it was had taken a perch on my arm and was watching my eyes expectantly. Seeming to will me to stay calm. The floating lights around me faded as the black shifted until it resembled an open field. It was then that I realized the thing on my arm was in fact a Raven.

I guess that I should have been worried or even frightened at the gigantic bird that was on my arm. But for some reason, I trusted the Raven. It was as if he was an old friend I had met long ago.

Tearing my eyes away from the bird, I found that the field I was standing in was devoid of all life. In fact, I could see the bodies of dead people. Most were just bones, but a few seemed to still have meat on the bones, sickly decomposing flesh that looked and smelled terrible.

I found myself struggling not to hyperventilate. I mean, I was in a field full of dead bodies! Just before I was about to let out a scream, a soft brush of a wing on my cheek had my head turning towards the Raven. It was then that I knew it. As long as the Raven was with me, I was safe. He would make sure of it.

As a breeze seemed to ruffle my hair, the Raven let out a loud caw. I felt myself start to slip back into the real world.

* * *

"Mai," I heard Madoka call out my name. And from the sound of her voice, I gathered that it wasn't the first time she had called out to me.

"Hmm?" I asked as I lifted my head from my desk. When realization dawned on me, I said "Oh my God, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep!"

To my surprise, she just chuckled at me. "Don't worry Mai! I'm just surprised this was the first time since Noll left that you have fallen asleep at work! You wouldn't believe the amount of times he vented about how you fall asleep at the drop of a pin!"

I shook my head at the comment. It wasn't like we had gotten any tough cases lately anyway. Most of what we had been doing these past three months that Naru had been away for were clean cut cases that anyone could have solved in their sleep. Or out of it seeing as I didn't have those dreams anymore. Or I thought that I didn't.

But that also didn't reassure me seeing as I hadn't gotten a dream since my boss left. After all, Gene had moved on since his body was found, and he had been the helping hand that had once guided me through the dreams. Without him, I wasn't sure if I could even get those dreams.

"Was it one of those dreams?" Madoka surprised me by asking what I had just been thinking about.

"Yeah, I think it was." I answered carefully. I didn't really want to tell her about it, but I knew she would want to know what I saw.

To my surprise, she didn't ask me to tell her. She only asked a single question. "Was Gene in your dream?" She asked as she averted her gaze and her teeth played with her lower lip. It was almost as if she was afraid of what my answer might be. And I understood that. If I was her, I would be very concerned to what the answer would be.

I let out my breath before answering "No, he has moved on." I tried to make sure that my voice was strong, but I'm not sure if it worked or not.

It was only after that that Madoka forced me to share the details of the dream. For some reason I didn't tell her about the Raven. I just couldn't; it didn't feel right to tell her about him. But I did tell her about the lights and the field of bodies.

Madoka nodded, and to my surprise bubbly told me that I had the rest of the day off. Not that I was complaining. With a wave I left, just noticing her taking her phone out.

* * *

Madoka's POV:

After Mai left, I took out my phone and dialed a number I knew by heart. I was a little panicked, but I knew that I couldn't show that. At the same time I was ecstatic! Mai was getting visions again!

"Hello?" A deep voice asked.

Taking a deep inhale, I said "Mai fell asleep at work for the first time! From what the two of you were telling me I thought it was going to be a daily occurrence." Yes, I was stalling, but I also knew that if Noll was around he would hear the name Mai and try to enter the conversation. He was the one I really wanted to talk to.

"It was when we were in Japan," Lin answered in his stoic voice.

I heard the phone switch hands right about then and knew that the little genius had decided if it pertained to Mai's dreams he needed to know. I smiled inwardly at myself. I knew that boy like the back of my hand … sometimes.

"Did she dream?" His blunt question was asked with feigned emotionless voice. But he couldn't trick me so easily. I knew that he had a soft spot for Mai. We all knew that. Well, except for Mai and Naru. But seriously, those two were so dense sometimes.

"Yep," I gave him the affirmative.

"Was it one of those dreams?" He asked over the phone.

"Seems like," I answered as cheerfully as I could. I heard the pause on the other end and decided not to pull his chain. He needed to know this. It really wasn't fair to keep it from him anyway. And it wasn't like it was bad news. Or I didn't think that it was bad news.

"I did ask. Mai is convinced that he has moved on, and she didn't see him." I said with some care. I didn't need him going into a rage or what not.

A few minutes later and I had described the dream as Mai had told me. "And now we know that she can probably still use her dreams on cases! Isn't that wonderful?"

I was greeted by silence on the other end. Then Noll replied by asking "Have you lost more brain cells then you could replace on your last case?"

I huffed. I knew that I had taught him manners when he was younger, but he apparently decided to forget them all. Seriously, could he be a little more gentlemanly at times? Or would the strain on his personality kill him?

"The detailed reports we had Mai fill out tells us that Gene repeatedly interfered in order to probably keep her safe. Without a spirit guide in her dreams, her visions may become more violent and volatile. And we all knew how bad they can be anyway. You need to watch her Madoka!" he continued with a little bit of annoyance in his voice.

I hadn't thought of that. Damn, why did he always have to be a kid genius? It wasn't fair. Yes, I was pouting.

"Oliver is right. I think we both are planning on coming back sometime next month. Until then, keep track of all of her dreams and actions meticulously. Okay?" Lin said as he took the phone back from the agitated teen.

"Alright," I agreed. Then I had to ask "How are things over there?"

After a pause to get the right words Lin said "Suffocating. I think that we both can't wait to come back. If anything it will get people off our backs. And I think he doesn't want to admit it, but we both are missing Japan."

When he hung up I couldn't help but wonder if it was Japan they were missing or the people who lived there.

* * *

Day 1

October 21st

Mai's POV:

Crap! I was watching the clock as the seconds seemed to be speeding up. I was not ready yet! The test was going to be super hard, and I did not study as much as I should have. In fact, I hadn't studied at all!

It had been almost week since the first dream, and every time I closed my eyes I saw the Raven as if it was telling me that something was coming. And that also kept my focus off of everything else. For instance, I meant to study, I really did, but when I opened the book I had heard a flap of wings from behind me when nothing was there. How the hell was I supposed to study with that thing always handing over my shoulder?

But at this point I didn't give a damn if it was trying to tell me something unless it was to tell me the answers to the test I had to take next class. If he could I would promise him that I would get whatever treats that dream ravens liked and I would give him a truck load of them.

About a minute before it was time to move on to math class, the intercom beeped to life. "Mai Tanyama, please report to the office. Mai Tanyama, please report to the office. Thank you,"

Thank you! Thank you Madoka! I praised the pink haired woman. She was a life saver. And I knew it was her because it was always SPR related when I got called down the office. That was just the kind of person I was.

Sure enough, there she was. And she was grinning for some reason too. Right about then I should have been afraid, but I wasn't. Silly me.

"We have a case!" She announced proudly and with a lot of enthusiasm.

With a bead of sweat running down my face I answered "I thought as much," with a small smile.

Before I could ask what the case was, I was pushed into the van that was already packed with the equipment needed for collecting data on the house or place we were investigating.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked after we had been driving for a while.

"Oh, it's a case I found myself. You see, there is a condemned property where people see spirits often. I thought it would be a great idea to go ahead and catalog all of them for Naru. It might give him some good data for his research." She smiled and swerved in and out of traffic.

To be honest, the one thing I missed more than Naru was Lin's careful driving. I could fall asleep when he drove, but with Madoka... I was afraid that I was going to die. It is impossible to sleep hen every five minutes you are either about to crash into the car in front of you or you feel your insides coming out due to the fact that the break was just slammed to the floor of the car.

Case and point: she made an hour drive done in a little less than fifteen minutes. I was scared that my life was going to end in that cursed van.

As it turns out, the place we were investigating was a large two story house with scorch marks all over it. While the second floor had been deemed uninhabitable, there were plenty of rooms down stairs that we could use. That we were using as it turned out.

Madoka had decided that we would stay the night in the same room that acted as the base. She had been sure to pick a room that just happened to have two couches in it so that we were going to sleep semi comfortable. I didn't like that at all. One; it was just the two of us, and two; the door didn't lock anymore. Anyone could come in while we were sleeping! And it really did bother me.

As I set up the cameras, I couldn't help but think of Naru. I wondered how we would both react when he was back. I had confessed my love for him, and he had just shoved it off onto his twin who I didn't even know. In total I had probably spent all of twenty minutes with Gene. How the hell was I supposed to have fallen in love with him?

I still loved Naru, but now I knew that he probably wasn't going to accept my feelings anytime soon. So I had decided to stay close to him, and to try again when the time was right.

"A little bit more to your right and we are set!" Madoka smiled with her voice. It was so much better than the monotone voice that Lin used, but I would have been lying if I said I didn't miss it though.

As I made my way back to base, I could feel a cold breeze caress my back. It was chilling, but I figured that it was just because the place was mostly burnt down. It was also October, almost November, so the weather was getting somewhat colder. That was also when I heard the rustling of feathers. If it was the sound of anything else I might not have freaked out, but after the dream with the Raven I was a little jumpy about that particular sound.

I started walking faster until I was almost running into the base that Madoka had set up for us. And unfortunately that did not go unnoticed by the pink haired ghost hunter. It was always easy to pass it off as nothing around Naru or Lin because the first was always reading some book and the other was always watching the monitors. But Madoka could probably care less about that when she was at base.

Sure she always had one eye on the video feeds, but the other she had on having fun with the other people present, and that usually meant me most of the time. So of course she knew that something was up right away when she saw me running into the base and closed the door rather quickly behind me.

"Mai, did something happen?" She asked as she came closer to me.

"No! Not at all, it was just cold and then I didn't feel comfortable, and then I came back here," I started mumbling with my hands waving in front of me. I knew that I was fooling absolutely no one with this, but at least it was better than letting her know what had actually happened.

"So, you're getting a bad vibe off this place?" She clarified.

I sheepishly nodded. There really wasn't anything else for me to say. Then I watched as she picked up her note book and scribbled down some notes. I already knew that my gut reaction to this place was going into the case file for when we finished it up.

"So what are the reports of this place? You still haven't told me about them." I asked her to try and take her mind away from the fact that I really didn't like it here.

"Oh, silly me," She said with a laugh as she flipped through her notes. "Let's see, it started after a fire that ran through this place really late at night. All of the inhabitants were asleep when it happened. The only one who made it out was the twelve year old daughter who woke up because of the smoke. The other four in the family were not so lucky. Their spirits are seen every once in a while, and sometimes there are phantom fires that appear to be real, but when people go to douse them, they disappeared on their own."

I gulped, phantom fires and ghosts; two things that I did not want to be having dreams about right at this point in time. And I had a feeling that I was going to have a dream about this place sooner rather than later. If I wasn't so afraid of letting her know that I was afraid I would have groaned. In fact, if it was ay one but Madoka who had told me about this I would have.

But the woman in front of me scared me enough to keep the fear inside and try not t show it. She had enough influence to keep Naru in check, and I head learned the hard way that it was not a good thing to show that you are afraid when she is around. It could mean a week full of teasing and relentless pranking.

As is the norm with our first day of investigating, there was no activity anywhere. The only interesting thing that happened was when a bird had flown in. Though it was only interesting for her, I had the wits scared out of me.

It wasn't my fault. Because there was no lock on the door, a draft had opened it. In fluttered a small sparrow. I admit that it was kind of funny. At the sound of the wings I literally jumped out of my seat, gave a short scream, and looked for the sound.

Could you really blame me? After all that had happened up until that point?

Of course when I found that it was only a sparrow, I sighed and relaxed. When Madoka was done processing what had happened, she started to laugh her head off. I was so embarrassed that I had begged her to stop. She did after a while, and then would every so often break into laughter again. I knew it was for the same thing, and I knew I was going to be hearing about this for weeks.

But after that was over, we spent the rest of what little there was of the day just sitting there. I worked on my homework with an occasional glance at the monitors as Madoka read a little, and started on the paperwork. It was just video and voice recording things for Naru. It wasn't like we were here o perform an exorcism or something.

Not to mention, we weren't even sure if this place was haunted. The last one wasn't, so it might be the same thing.

"Time for sleep!" Madoka announced as she snapped the folder in front of her shut.

I groggily agreed. To be honest I was just too tired to do anything else. I had been fighting sleep since right after Madoka had stopped laughing at me. It was to the point that I didn't even remember why it was that I was fighting off the sleep. I was ready to pass out after I had changed and gotten comfortable in the sleeping bag.

The soft snores coming from the sleeping bag next to me lulled me into the oblivion of sleep in a matter of moments.

* * *

Dream:

I was breathing heavily as my surroundings began to come into focus. At first it was just flashes of yellow and orange, but now it was the entire view of the inferno. Flames licked the air around me and I could feel the heat through my shirt. But it didn't hurt. Or at least it didn't hurt yet.

In front of me was a bed, a bed that happened to have a boy around my age in it. I was a bit panicked as I saw that he was still sleeping. I rushed forward almost immediately and tried to warn him. But right when I was about to touch him a loud caw caught my attention and the beating of wings.

In an instant, the Raven was in between me and the boy and he was flapping his wings at me so that I was herded away from the bed. It reminded me of how Gene would hold me back from going to try and stop the person in my dream from doing something.

With tears in my eyes I watched as the fire started to consume the bed. I looked away from the image then. I knew what happened next, and if it was any indication, I heard the boy start to cream. But it was already too late for him. I remembered that Madoka had said that only the daughter had survived the fire.

Right before the screams became unbearable; I felt the Raven land on my shoulder. The image around me swirled into the next scene. It was in the kitchen.

When it came into focus I found that I was seeing it though the eyes of someone else. I couldn't speak. I was just there to observe. I couldn't stop the tears from spilling then. I was so afraid. I couldn't do anything. I had no control over anything that was happening to me. It was a realization that scared me even more than the dream.

I didn't know how to stop, I didn't know how to wake up, and I didn't have anyone other than a Raven to help me. My breathing hitched as I thought about that. Then I suddenly couldn't get enough air into my lungs. I was so afraid.

* * *

**A/N And that concludes the first chapter. Please Fav,** **Follow, and Review. I would love to hear everyone's opinion on this one. And I have no posting schedule, so I will up date as soon as possible and to the best of my ability! **


	2. Trapped Day 2

**A/N: Hello! I am happy to be back with another chapter. Though these first two were just and opening, I have a few cases lined up. I don't know how long this will be, but there will be an underlying theme and mystery that must be solved that concerns the Raven! Please tell me your thoughts and whatnot, I really do like to know what people I'm also thinking of changing the title, but I don't know what to call it...  
**

**Also, I will be naming the chapters better, I hope. hehe...I need to think up better tittles...**

**I do not own Ghost Hunt!  
**

* * *

Case 1: Trapped

Day 2

October 27th

Dream:

Resigning to the fact that I had to know what this vision was trying to tell me, I looked through the eyes of the person I was in. I think it was a girl who was about my age. She even was wearing a school uniform. Looking around, (something that was very hard to do when the eyes I was seeing there were not moving to where I wanted them too) I noticed that I was in the kitchen, and from the lack of damage and charring I could tell that it was before the fire.

Across from me stood a woman that seemed to be about Ayako's age. She looked really mad for some reason. I don't think that I have ever seen someone that angry. well, Naru has been angry, but he never makes that kind of face, he just gets colder. This girl seemed to be absolutely livid for some reason.

"Did you really think that was okay? You can't just go out without telling us! And I bet it was because of that boy too! Well I don't want you seeing him, understand?" The woman yelled at the body that I was in.

I could feel the anger that was accumulating in the body I was in. If at all possible, it was rolling off of the girl in waves. Even if I didn't speak, the person I was seeing though did. It was a strange sensation, having someone else's voice coming from where your mouth should be. I didn't like it. In fact I silently wished that it would never happen again!

The girl who I was in crossed her arms over her chest to show just how angered she was. "I wasn't asking your permeation mom! I can do whatever the hell I want! You don't control me!" The girl yelled, venom seemed to drip off of her words. I found myself wishing that this wasn't the last conversation the two of them had. I knew from the few times I had been really angry that people just don't think straight when they are pissed.

I could tell that the woman was was about to speak, but they were interrupted by the loud screams coming from the ceiling. Those screams I recognized. It was coming from the boy that I had been watching earlier. The boy who was being burned.

They all rushed up the stairs, and at the door they met up with the two other people whom I hadn't seen yet. They saw the smoke coming out of the room, and felt the heat from the fire and knew what was going on. It was evident on their faces that they were more than just concerned with the situation.

Within a minute three of them were in the room, with only the angry daughter that I was in out in the hall way. I didn't know why, but I got a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted the others to get out of that room, and I didn't know why. I found out why a few seconds later though.

I was paralyzed in horror as the body I was in stepped forward and grabbed the door. In a second, she had slammed the door shut and had turned so that her body was keeping the door from opening. Through the anger that I felt in her, I could feel something else. No, not feel, I could hear it; her thoughts.

_"Maybe if they just learned that I can handle myself just fine, that I am independent, that I don't want then to be hanging over me, maybe then they would leave me alone!"_ The girl thought. Some inner part of her mind was crying, and I felt myself begging her to stop, to open the door. I was crying again, in panic. A part of me knew that my begging was useless; this had already happened, but that didn't stop me from trying.

"Please! Open the door! Please!" I heard the woman yell through the door.

But there was no answer from the girl I was in.

It wasn't until the banging on the door stopped that the girl realized what she had done. "Mom! Mom, are you there?" She suddenly yelled through the door. Now there was no answer. I felt her panic, and I also felt my own bubble up.

We reached for the door nob, and I heard her hiss as the hot metal burned her skin. What surprised me the most was that I could feel the pain as well. And it hurt a lot! I don't know when it had happened, but as our panic synchronized , we both began to throw ourselves at the door. We both felt the need to break it open and help those within. As my movements became more and more frantic, I was ripped out of the vision by the weight of the Raven once again landing on my shoulder and the slight sting of his talons digging into my skin.

It took several minutes for me to regain a steady breathing pattern. And even if my fear was still running through me at break neck speeds, I knew that I was going to be alright. That was all in the past. It didn't really concern me.

Looking at the Raven who was now before me I could see that there was something it wanted to communicate to me. But at the same time it was waiting for me to be ready. I didn't understand how I knew that, but I figured it would be easier to just accept it and figure out if there was something else that it wanted.

Probably sensing that I was better, in a flutter of feathers it once again landed on my shoulder. The first thought I had when I looked around this time was thank God I wasn't inside someone else again. I didn't think I could handle another first person vision that night.

But my relief was short lived when I saw what was happening. It was the girl from the other dream; the one that I had been inhabiting. Not only was she there alone, but she was crying as well. It was understandable seeing as she had been the reason her family had died in the fire. And now she was alone.

More than anything I wanted to reach out to her. But I was frozen in place. I could only watch as she started to take heavy steps to a folding chair that she must have set up previously. It only took me a few more seconds to figure out what was going on here.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry," The girl sobbed as she reached for the noose she had tied for herself. "I didn't mean it, I didn't want it to happen," She was still crying about what had happened.

"No, stop, please!" I yelled at her, but as with all of my dreams/visions, they can never hear me.

I watched helplessly and unmoving as she slipped the loop of rope around her neck. It was like I was in a trance of some kind.

Then, right when she was about to jump, my eyes were covered by one large black wing. The Raven seemed to sense that I didn't need to see this, that it was too much for me. I cried though. I could hear the rope as it snapped tight, and the clattering of the chair. I knew that she had died.

The scene shifted again, and I was in the normal backdrop that I had been in previously. For some reason the familiarity of the darkness only interrupted by the glowing orbs seemed to reassure me that it was all going to be okay; that I was okay.

As I turned to thank the Raven for shielding my eyes I yelped as I came face to face with the girl. In doing so I literally fell back down into my backside.

"Find me!" She said quite forcefully.

With a caw and a sharp pain in my shoulder, the dream came to an end.

* * *

As I bolted up right in my sleeping bag breathing heavily and still panicking, I felt warmth on my left arm.

Remembering the fire in the first and second parts of my dream I immediately reacted by letting out a scream and moving as far away from the heat as possible. Hysteria was running through my veins for what had to have been the third or fourth time that night as I backed myself into a corner.

"Mai, it's me; Madoka." Said person tried to calm me down. "You're okay, I promise you," she continued with her hands out in front of her, palms facing me as if I might attack or something. But, given my earlier reaction to what I just then realized was her touch, it wasn't a complete impossibility.

I didn't even notice that she was on her phone, or that she hung up the moment I was awake. Her mouth forming words, but in the haze of panic I couldn't make it out. I had heard her just fine a second ago, but then again she had been speaking in Japanese. Now the words coming out of her mouth were a jumbled mess of English that I couldn't have understood if I tried.

One look into her concerned light brown, almost pinkish eyes, and I found myself being reduced into a puddle of tears. She took that as a good sign and come over to me. When she knew I wasn't going to run away from her again, I felt her arms wrap around me in an embrace. She knew that whatever I had seen was terrible. Though she had never seen me after a vision, I had no doubt that she had heard stories from the other members of our team.

Her soothing murmuring comforted me a little as I grieved for the loss of the family and of how they had died. Life was just too short and so unfair.

* * *

In London (normal pov):

Lin sat unwavering at his computer. He did this for one of two reasons. The first was that he always sat in front of this computer and worked off whatever it was that he needed to do. The second was that he had gotten a spur of the moment e-mail telling him that Madoka had taken Mai on a harmless job to see if her dreams came back.

He would have scolded her for not checking with him and Oliver to see if that was alright, but she had stated that she thought the case was completely harmless; as cut and dry as a case could get.

Across the hall from him, in a separate office, was the kid genius himself. Not that it helped that there were two closed doors and about ten feet separating the two offices. Lin had begun to wonder if Noll had a seventh sense (sixth being his ESP) for knowing when Mai was being discussed. He seemed to come into the room every single time the petite brunet was named or involved, perhaps even thought about.

It was only eight at night, so if Mai had a dream, he would probably hear about it in an hour or two. It wasn't like he was going to leave the office anyway. Even on good days, he and Oliver stayed in until ten or eleven at night. It wasn't just that they were workaholics, it was just they had nothing better to do (as in they are workaholics).

As if on cue, his personal cell phone rang, and just from the ominous ringtone (yes, Lin had ringtones programmed to tell him who is calling), he already knew that it was from Madoka.

"Yes?" He asked, a little worried that it was only around four in the morning over there. That did not bode well for the latent psychic that probably just had a dream over there. For some reason Lin got the feeling that things were about to get really complicated.

"Lin, I have a problem!" Madoka started. Just from the panic evident in her voice he knew his hunch was correct.

"What is it? Are you alright?" He asked immediately. He unconsciously stood up as he heard the door to the office across from him open before Oliver walked in. Lin took the phone from his ear and put it on speaker so they both would hear.

"I'm fine; it's Mai that is in trouble! She fell asleep hours ago, and then she started to get restless. I thought she had woken up, but she didn't! And now I can't wake her up!" Madoka said with the same amount of panic as before.

While she might have been great at the science of ghost hunting, she always looked to Lin for answers that concerned the spiritual side of the business. Not being gifted with any gifts like that herself, she had no idea how to handle them. Even if she had gotten used to it with Gene and Noll, what Mai was going through seemed completely alien to her.

"Why are you trying to wake her up?" Noll asked the receiver.

As if on cue, again, a short should was heard. "That's why! She was fine when she was just tossing and turning, but then she started yelling every once in a while. And she is burning up! And a few minutes ago she started to cry in her sleep. And she is thrashing around too." The pink haired ghost hunter said breathlessly. She was trying to keep Mai as still as possible.

Noll looked to Lin after that. He was sure that the onmyoji knew something to help. But looking to his facial features, he was rendered unsure. Lin was thinking heard, his brow was furrowed and he seemed to be slightly worried.

"I think it would be unwise to wake her until the vision is over. I think that if you just yank her out of one it may cause her to go into shock. But if her screaming becomes too much, I remember that Miss. Matsuzaki snapped her out of a vision once by slapping her." Lin said as calmly as he could. Though, if one listened closely they could hear the concern in his voice.

If he was there, then he would have had his shiki scan over her to see if that would have helped. Better yet, if Noll was there, he might have been able to pick up on something. But the other thing that Lin knew was that there was probably nothing any of them could do to help her during her visions. None of them could astral project into the places where she had her visions. You had to be a spirit to do that, a dead one that had decided to guide the psychic.

After a few minutes of silence, Madoka said "She seems to have calmed down a little." She sighed a little at the end there.

"That doesn't mean it won't start up again," Oliver finally spoke up, "you still need to monitor her until she is awake."

With the words said we all waited and thought over what this meant. Without Gene they knew that she didn't have a spirit guide helping her, so she would have to use her own discretion to keep out of trouble during her dreams. However, with that thought came the obvious concern that Maia never showed any discretion or signs of restraint when it meant helping other people. A trait that was good in the real world, but highly problematic in the ghost hunter life.

Another yell brought them all out of their musings. Lin and Naru could clearly hear Mai yelling "No, stop, please!"

"I think you should try and wake her up again." Lin spoke what all were thinking.

That was how Madoka started to shake and call out Mai's name.

They were rewarded with a shrill scream that had all three of them flinching. Oliver knew that scream. It was the one she used whenever she thought that she was about to die. It was one of very few sounds that made his own heart clench in fear for another human, the only sound that caused him to act recklessly.

"She is awake, I'll call you guys with more details after I calm her down; she is terrified." Madoka said as quickly as possible before handing up.

Noll and Lin stood there devoid of conversation for quite some time. It wasn't that they didn't know what to say, it was that neither wanted to say what was clearly on the minds of both men. They needed to go back, if for nothing else than to help Mai.

Breaking the silence, Naru said "I think that it would provide an interesting case study if we went back." It might have seemed cold, but that didn't fool the elder Chinese man.

"Is that what you are planning to tell the professor when you ask to go back?" Lin asked slightly amused, but otherwise too concerned to sound that way. He had wanted to go back to Japan for the past month and a half. Although he didn't want to admit it, he had missed the rowdiness of their usual group. It was almost refreshing, and much better than the stuffiness of people there in London.

Naru gave a quick nod. He was the one that would never admit his feelings on the matter. He also wasn't about to tell Lin that he had been looking for a good excuse to go back since right after the funeral ended. But look as he might, he could never rationalize going back well enough to go to his parents with the request.

Or, correction, he could never admit that it was not just because he missed Mai.

He had been missing the lively brunet. She was constantly on his mind. When she had confessed, he had been so torn. For the first time in his life, he hadn't known what he was feeling. He had known that he had a strong attraction to his assistant, but he didn't know how strong it was until them. And then there was that resentful part of his mind hat had told him it was not him that she had fallen for.

For whatever reason, he had listened to the later emotion, and had told that to her too. A part of him wished that he hadn't, but he knew that it was true. It was always Gene that the girls fell for. After all, who would fall in love with the cold narcissist when the lively, just has handsome twin was somewhere nearby?

Taking himself out of those thoughts, he strolled out of Lin's office and into his own, reminding himself to squelch the habit of calling for tea. Another thing he missed about Mai. Her tea far outranked any that was made by the people here.

* * *

In Japan (Mai's POV):

It was well over an hour after I had woken up from my dream before I had calmed down enough to pull out of Madoka's embrace and look up at the older woman through my red and puffy eyes.

"What is it Mai?" She asked as softly as she could, sending a hand carefully through my hair in order to comfort me. I admit that it felt nice.

"You didn't mention the suicide earlier," I remarked through my hiccups and sniffling.

Madoka looked at me with confused eyes. "There was no suicide," she commented.

I felt tears begin to build up in my eyes again as my lower lip began to quiver. No wonder she had told me to find her. No one had known he had killed herself. It explained everything.

Taking her hand, I shakily stood up from the corner I had been cowering in. Was it cowering? Well, the one I had managed to back myself into, anyway, the point was that it was hard for me to leave the comfort that I had found there at the moment. But I knew that I had to.

I lead her through the halls that I had run through before, past the camera that we had set up, and to a door that looked as if it would rather stay shut. I was glad that Madoka had decided not to take temperature readings due to the lack of stability in the breezy condemned house. It had probably saved me from the discovery before I knew what I was walking into.

And even if I knew what it was that I was walking in on, I couldn't bring myself to open the door. I had put my hand on the handle before I froze to think about what was behind that door. It was something I didn't want to see.

I think that Madoka saw what I was feeling. She tugged on my hand until I was standing next to the door, with my back pressed against the wall so that I couldn't see into it. Then she opened the door. I didn't have to be psychic to know that what she saw disgusted her. The gasp and hand to her mouth said t all. I was glad I didn't look in.

* * *

We called in John, just in case, and he agreed that when we found the body that the spirit must have been cleansed. He blessed the house anyway as a precaution.

Just like that another case was solved.

As we packed the last of our gear into the van, I took one last look at the house. It wasn't as creepy looking as I thought it had been the first time that I had seen the house. It almost looked peaceful now to be honest.

Then, to my surprise, I saw a raven fly over the house and call out in the eerie way that they do. On the same wind that carried the raven's caw, I clearly heard the words "Thank you," whispered into my ears. I somehow knew that it was the girl.

I smiled softly.

The smile didn't last long. How could it with the erratic driving that Madoka had. I was afraid, again, but this fear was refreshing almost. It was normal, and it didn't put me into a panic like my dream had. That was in one way a relief, but in another it was kind of unnerving that I welcomed the feeling while the woman next to me remained oblivious to the fear she was causing. Her driving begged the question of how she had gotten her license at all.

Once at the office, I was given her laptop with an open document and was told to record every last detail of the dream. With a lot of grumbling, I complied. But only after she had brought me tea and cookies to eat while I wrote it up.

Bribery works wonders on me! Maybe she should pass that on to Naru whenever he decides to come back, that way he might do something other than scold me when he wants something done!

Who am I kidding? Naru would never bribe me. He takes too much pleasure from ordering me around to do that. Plus his narcissistic personality might explode if he even considered it.

All through the report I did not mention the Raven. I know that it was somewhat important, but whenever I started to type about him, I just couldn't. I think that he wants it so they don't know. But I don't know why.

I did mention the voice after we left though.

Although I know that it could mean something, there was another part that I couldn't mention. It was just too creepy, and I didn't want the fuss that it would cause. Later that morning, before John had given the all clear, I noticed six puncture marks on my shoulder, grouped in threes, and two matching ones on the back of my shoulder. The strange part was that they corresponded to where the Raven's talons had been when he had landed on my shoulder to wake me up.

So I once again left that out. The thing that I didn't know at the time was that Madoka was sending that report over to Lin so that he and Naru would know about it. I didn't even know that she had contacted them about the dreams coming back. But to be honest, I probably should have known.

* * *

_Next case preview:_

_An old prison being remodeled into a school?_

_A tragic accident involving a kid?_

_Will SPR be able to get to the bottom of what is happening so that construction can resume?_

_Find out!_

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**A/N There you have it. I hoped you liked it. I know that the dream was really specific, but in my defense I am going to point out that it is my own imagination, and that the spirit was desperate to be found, unlike most of the ones that they encountered in the manga or anime, so it showed her everything. I highly doubt that her other dreams will be so relieving. Thank you for reading, and please tell me what you thought.  
**

**Thank you to tennison and sakura-moonrose-hime for reviewing. It meant a lot to me! **


	3. Case 2: Tag

**A/N Hello! I have another chapter for you guys! I want to say thank you to RosetheWolfgirl, Sakura-moonrose-hime, and sumerbirdy for leaving reviews for the last chapter. I hope you all enjoy this newest chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Ghost Hunt. **

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Case 2: Tag

The Day Before

November

Mai's POV:

I looked out of the car window as Madoka drove to the airport. My hands were fiddling with the hem of my skirt as I looked at the planes flying overhead, either coming in or leaving. I quickly wondered if they were on one of those. I guess that I probably would never know. After all, I hadn't looked up to see what type of plane he was flying on and I don't think that Madoka bothered either. All we knew was to be there at the airport at six thirty in the morning to pick them up.

I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting. I knew that they both would come back and be as stoic as ever. But something inside of me wished silently that it wasn't going to be like that. I think I wished that they would great me as if I was a friend. But I knew better, this was Naru I was talking about.

Sure enough, we pulled up and immediately I hopped out to help with their bags and to get into the back seat. Not a single word was said, but I think I saw Lin flash a small smile to say hello. I was way too nervous to even try and speak to him or Naru. And somehow, instead of babbling like I would have, I didn't say anything.

That was until we all started to get into the van. "Hey, who is driving?" I asked no one in particular.

"Lin," Naru answered almost immediately and with authority.

I did my best to contain my excitement. I don't think that I jumped for joy, but from the glare that I got from Madoka, I think a smile might have slipped through my calm facade. But, judging from the quick response from Naru I had a feeling that he was not going to ever get into a car that his teacher was driving.

How Naru ended up in the back with me, I will never now. I had thought that Madoka would have been kicked out of the front. But I also knew that she did pull some weight when it came to Naru. Heck, she could probably do anything that she wanted and get away with it. I had seen her do some incredibly amazing things while trying to get what she wanted, and to be honest, I have never seen her fail after she had set her sights on something.

The ride to the office was excruciatingly silent. Lin, who was always silent, drove in a way that the car didn't squeal in protest, and the cars around us were not honking at all. It was bliss. Though, it was a bliss that was broken by the sulking that Madoka was doing in the front. She really didn't like that the boys didn't trust her enough to drive.

Then there was Naru. He had pulled out a book with some English title that I couldn't read and had his nose stuck into it for most of the ride. Not once did he even look my way and try to start a conversation. However, he put the book down about five minutes before we reached the office to say "We have a client coming in later today. Be ready for them."

And just like that he was back to ordering me around. Irritation settled in my gut as I looked at him. He had been back in Japan for all of thirty minutes, and yet he already had a client? When did he not work? But once I realized that it was typical Naru, and that I wouldn't have him any other way, I felt a warm feeling replace the irritation. I even smiled at him and nodded my head, a thing that did not go unnoticed by the two adults in the front. The two of them even gave each other looks that spoke of furthering the conversation later. For one thing, Lin and Madoka hadn't really been able to talk due to the fact that Naru was always there when she called. For another, both of them knew that there was something going on between the teens.

When they reached the offices, Lin and Naru immediately went to their respective offices, and I could hear the steady typing of keys from Lin's room and the occasional rustle of papers in the other one. They really were all work.

"Mai, tea," Naru called out.

I resisted my laugh. It was just too funny that they had returned and were acting as if no time had passed. Though, knowing Naru, it really appeared that he didn't want to go through the drama of reacquainting himself with everyone when he remembered all of us clearly. For now I decided that just for today I wouldn't be mad at him. And I would do my best to keep that resolution. It didn't matter how badly he pissed me off. I was determined to not be angry on his first day back in Japan.

I could even deal with the fact that he was acting as if I had never confessed my feelings to him. I know that I wished there could be something there, but I wouldn't push the issue. I would be happy to just be working for him again, going on cases with him and the others like old times.

I went to the kitchenette and began preparing the tea. I didn't even notice that Madoka had slipped into the kitchen behind me.

"You know I had him sitting in the back so you two could talk, right?" She asked as I put the kettle on the stove.

I gave her a bright smile as I said "It's Naru, if he felt like talking he would have."

I heard my pitiful excuse and knew I was just lying to myself. But I hadn't told her that I had confessed to him. No one but Yasu knew about that, and he only knew because I slipped up and said something about it on accident. It was just a few days ago on Halloween when we were at a party. I guess that the atmosphere loosened me up to the point where I was in a very sharing mood.I hadn't thought I had said it aloud until he questioned me about it later. Afterwards I had felt like a fool. But at the same time, he knew not to tease me about it. He, and probably the rest of SPR knew how I felt about the narcissist. But he had snorted at what the 'genius' had asked me after I had made my feelings known. And he had been there for me after that too.

With a sigh Madoka responded "I suppose you're right." She then mumbled under her breath something or another about manners. That was enough to make me giggle. And that was all the elder ghost hunter needed in order to smile with me.

Madoka left shortly after I gave Naru his tea. Once again he remained completely silent. I was hoping silently that he wasn't going to act any differently because I confessed to him, but at the same time I had a feeling I was the only one who was going to have trouble with that.

Thankfully I didn't have to wait long until the client came in. Once I had him seated I went over to Naru's office, knocked once, and said "Mr. Kawamura is here to see you."

I then knocked on Lin's door as Naru went to the conference area. When he emerged from his lair, (yes, those things that they call offices only serve to be lairs in the end) I went to the kitchen to prepare tea for everyone. To be honest I was surprised that he hadn't asked for more to begin with, especially since he drank enough tea to fill an ocean in a month.

Coming back, I took my seat and began to listen to the reports. I was surprised that Naru had waited for me before he had begun the questions. He usually didn't like to wait for anything. Or maybe he just needed another cup of tea in order to concentrate on the new case.

"What seems to be the problem?" Naru prompted.

Mr. Kawamura looked at his hands as he began to speak. "You see, we have been trying to build a school for the past few years, but we couldn't get the space for it. We finally got a place for it, but we have to demolish an old prison to start building. The demolition is scheduled for next month. But a few weeks ago three local kids went in there to play. Only two came out. And when we sent the search party to find the other, they had a really bad feeling about the place. Also, a few were pushed around. When they finally found the kid, he was in the back of what was once the industrial freezer, his head was bashed in."

I gasped and held my hand over my mouth in horror. I heard myself mutter "That's horrible," but no one paid any mind to that.

"Is that all, or are their other reports?" Naru asked as Lin typed everything up on his laptop.

"Whenever we are in there, we always feel watched. I've heard of three or four people who have been pushed down the stairs, and there are strange temperature fluctuations as well. It also seems that the younger workers are attacked first." The man paused for a moment. Then he looked at the three people in front of him before begging "Please, please help us. If I build the school and kids are hurt because of whatever is there, I would never be able to forgive myself!"

Naru snapped shut the notebook he had been idly writing in and looked to the man. Even if Lin was typing it all down, I knew that Naru always needed something for his own hands to be doing when he thought. I watched him as he caught his chin in his hand and thought. Just from the look of interest, I knew he was going to take the case.

"We'll take the case. Please expect us tomorrow, and I will need three rooms. Two for sleeping arrangements and one for our base, the later should have plenty of outlets for our equipment. I'll leave you to give the details and contact information to my assistant." Naru said as he stood.

He and Lin left the room as I began to take down the information I was told to.

Smiling warmly at Mr. Kawamura as he left, I couldn't deny that I was happy Naru took the case. Though he would have disagreed with me, I always knew that Naru would take any case where children were endangered. Though he hid it well, I knew (or had my suspicions) that beneath his almost always narcissistic exterior there was a very large heart.

Or maybe I just hoped that there was.

With a shrug, I found myself going to the phone to start calling all of the regulars to take the case. I knew that he would ask me to anyway. I was pretty sure that most prisons were rather large.

* * *

Day 1

I was in the van, again, with Yasu sitting next to me and Naru and Lin in the front. We were finally going to go and see just what was in this place. I was kind of excited to say the least. If anything, I was thrilled to be working with Lin and Naru again. Though I didn't say anything like that.

Earlier that morning, we all met at the SPR offices. I was happy to see Monk, and Ayako. It had been a while since Madoka took a case that needed them. I wasn't as thrilled to see that Masako was there though. For some reason I still didn't like her a whole lot, and from the look on her face I could tell that the feeling was mutual.

As I began to nod off due to the smooth driving I remembered something else. "Hey. Lin?" I called to the front seat.

He gave a glance through the rearview mirror at me, telling me to go on, and I said "Thank you for being such a good driver, I don't think I could have lasted much longer with Madoka," I trailed off the last bit of that, but from the knowing almost smile he gave me, I gathered that he understood where I was coming from. He even gave me a nod.

I hate to admit it, but it only took a few more minutes for me to fall asleep and only two minutes after that to slump in a way that my head was on Yasu's shoulder. For the next two hours of the ride, I was pretty much dead to the world.

Dream:

"Where am I?" I asked myself as I looked around, all memory of being in the van forgotten.

I looked around and saw a boy sitting behind a pile of boxes with his knees to his chest and head resting on top of them. His mouth was moving in words that I seemed to only hear in my mind.

"I wanted to play tag, but no, they wanted to play hide and seek. Why do they always win?" Those were the words that echoed in my mind.

I went to reach out to the boy, but a loud caw had me looking over my shoulder at the Raven. That was when it clicked that this was a dream. The caw reminded me of when Gene stopped me from trying to do something in a dream. I knew that I had to keep watching, there was more that I was supposed to see.

I saw a man come towards the boy. He reached out his hand, and for some reason the little boy took it. I wanted to reach out and stop them, but something was still holding me in place, telling me to keep watching for a little bit longer.

Turning I yelped as I came face to face with woman who was maybe an inch away from my face.

* * *

As I jumped in my dream, I made the mistake of trying to stand in real life. But the choking of the seat belt as it forced me down and the safety on it locking from the sudden pull caused me to stop almost immediately. That hurt more than I would care to admit.

"Idiot," I heard the soft scoff from my boss in the front seat.

I glared. It was the second day back, so I allowed myself to get angry at him again.

My attention was pulled back to Yasu when he asked "So what did you dream about this time?"

I gave him a look that I will not describe due to how stupid it made me look. Anyway, I then crossed my arms and asked "What makes you think that I had a dream?" I was careful that my voice only sounded annoyed. But Yasu knew that almost never got annoyed at him. It was almost an impossibility.

"Cus you woke up so suddenly. And here you were all comfortable on my shoulder too." He teased with his wolfish grin.

I blushed crimson at that. Looking away I saw the glances that Lin was sending through the mirror and the way that Naru's eyes had narrowed on the page he was supposedly reading. Clearly they both had heard dream and wanted to know what I had seen. I wondered how long I could stall, but at the same time I didn't want to make either of them angry with me so early in the case.

I could see the headlines now; 'Ghost Hunter's Assistant Dies in a Freak Accident!' and what said accident was could be left up to imagination for now. I was not going to take it that for.

"Well, there was a boy and he was complaining that he wanted to play tag, but the others forced him to play hide and seek. Then there was a man, and he started to lead the boy somewhere, and then a woman just snuck up behind me for some reason." I said with a dismissive wave of my hand.

Satisfied, the rest of the short drive was finished with silence in the front seat and small talk in the back with me and Yasu. We talked about what was new with school and stuff like that. Nothing serious. He even started to mess with me for a little bit.

To anyone else, it might have seemed like we were flirting, but we weren't. I had begun to look at Yasuhara as a best friend and almost a brotherly figure. It was just like how I saw Monk as a father figure and Ayako almost as a mother figure. Even Madoka had wormed her way into an aunt like position (with Lin as an uncle). And then there was John. I think that he always was the sedate big brother that was always there for me. And he was great with emotions, being a priest and all.

That only left Masako and Naru. Masako could have been an annoying sister, but I didn't feel that way about her. I was more like she was a friend that was really close. Yes, I did like Masako, I even considered her as a friend, and a little bit like family, but just like with all family members, I was allowed to be annoyed by her. Heck, I was allowed to hate her at times, but I always ended up think off her as a friend in the end.

And then there was Naru; my stupidly narcissistic tea-addicted boss. I loved him; there was no denying that fact. I had loved him since the moment I met him. Well, from right before the first case ended. I longed for his smiles, I wished for his feelings. And above all, I wished that I could see inside of his head and find out if I even had a chance.

Though, from what happened last time, I knew that I would have to be patient and wait a bit before I could even try and act on my feelings again. I also had a feeling that Masako was going to be trying to win his heart as well.

I didn't even realize we were at the prison until Yasu waved his hand in front of my face, waking me from my musings. He even laughed at my expense. But I just feigned annoyance as I walked past him.

However, when I stopped to look at the prison, I was so shocked that I froze in my tracks and stared up in awe. It was so big! And it looked almost too pretty to be a prison.

"Mai, when you are done messing around, come help us unload," Naru scolded from somewhere behind me.

I wanted to swing around and hit him right there and then, I wanted to yell at him like I had done in the past, but I didn't. I kept myself in check and instead, got to work on getting boxes out of the van along with Lin and Naru.

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**A/N thank you all for reading. Please leave a review if you would. I love hearing about what you all thought, and even criticism is welcome. I hope that you liked this newest chapter! **


	4. Case 2: Tag, Day 1

**A/N: And here be another chapter for Raven's Guidance. And now, I am also a pirate! Not really. I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Please let m know how I did on Naru. I decieded to write from his prospective at one point, and I wanna know if I got him right. And thank you to all of you who have reviewed, it means a lot!**

**One more thing before the story. My friend has asked me to write a Ghost Hunt and Fairy Tail crossover. Since I will be writing it anyway I wanted to know if there was interest on this site if I should post it here or not. Please let me know, if not in a review, then there is a poll up on my profile. Thanks!**

**I do not own Ghost Hunt!**

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Case 2: Tag

November

Day 1 (continued)

Mai's POV:

As I started to help unpack the van, Naru had gone ahead and somehow already knew where it was that our base as located. I mean, it's great and all that he knew, but I wish that he would take the time to be a little less antisocial with the clients. It was always nicer to get a tour than to have Naru had me a map and ask if I needed a compass to go with it to counteract my stupidity.

Of course, that hasn't happened, and…I'm not completely sure that I know how to use a compass, but that is beside the point. The point I was trying to make was that I wanted a tour, but we clearly were not getting one. That only meant that I could get lost that much easier. Isn't that a wonderful thought to occupy my mind as I got things out from the back of the van? Not really.

Anyway, as I started to go back to the van to pick up another monitor, I was suddenly surrounded by somethings that were warm and that was intent on squeezing the life out of me. Of course I knew just who it was the moment it happened, but that didn't stop me from struggling with everything I had, which is admittedly not much.

"Monk, quit it!" I yelled as I pushed him with all my strength. Of course it did next to nothing.

WHACK! Something, a nice heavy handbag something, hit the Monk on the head. It announced the arrival of Ayako. I was let go as the two older members of SPR's normal team began a verbal war.

Laughing, I continued to just unload the van. It was the smartest thing to do while those two argued. I knew that I would be forever tangled if I tried to get into the middle of that.

"Mind if I help?" John asked as he appeared next to me.

I nodded my head and indicated the last box in the van. Of course he gladly took it. That was one f the things that I admired about John; he helped anyone without question. In fact, he was always the first to ask if we needed help. It was great to have him around, especially when Monk and Ayako were fighting. I needed someone sane around here. And Naru, Lin, and Yasu do not count as sane people. For one thing, two of them don't speak (or sleep from what I could tell), and the other is just plain crazy! But I guess I can live with that.

Finally, after everything was set up, Naru's calm and annoyingly confident voice washed over the group. "Miss. Hara and Miss. Matsuzaki, please do a walk through. Father Brown, Takigawa and Mai will set up cameras. Yasuhara, I need to you pull up everything you can on this prison, specifically who has died here and if there was anything that sticks out about the history. Lin and I will stay at base and make sure everything is running smoothly."

With a sigh I followed Monk out the door. I really wished that he would do something other than order us around. My threshold for it was running very thin. I had wanted to show how much I had grown up, matured, but I was also having the distinct problem of getting really angry at him for his overconfident, narcissistic ways. Well, I guess somethings really will never change.

"What's up Mai? You seem to be very quiet," Monk asked me as we walked down the main stair way.

I was still looking at the floor plan in my hands that Naru gave me when I answered "I am doing everything in my power to not yell at anyone," I answered in my normal, carefree voice.

I think that my answer worried Monk because he seemed to back off a bit as I set up the camera in one of the hallways by the supply closets. Though, I just assumed that was what the small rooms to either side were for.

Looking around, I couldn't seem to shake the feeling that we were being watched. I wanted to push it off as me being paranoid at the fact that there was a Raven haunting my dreams. But that didn't make the feeling do away. In hindsight, I really should have known that something was up.

"Hey, John, could you run the cable backup?" I asked him with a smile.

"Sure thing," he said with his own smile.

I did notice that whatever it was seemed to stop watching us as John let, but I didn't realize at the time what that meant. I bet that if Naru knew of what was going on in my head, he would have known right away and then he would have called me stupid or something along those lines.

As Monk started to move to the next place to set up a camera, we all heard the yell from the stairs. And it was all too familiar to us. It was followed by a series of loud thumps that I did not like hearing.

"John!" I yelled as I ran to the stairs, causing Monk to yell at me to wait as he too ran to see if John was alright.

We found him at the bottom of the stairs as he rubbed his head. It was clear that he had fallen down the stairs.

Before I could even ask if he was alright, Naru was there asking "What happened?"

I could already feel my anger rising.

"Well, I was running the cable up the stairs, as when I was coming back down I felt a push on the small of my back. And someone seemed to whisper tag in my ear." John told us as he got up shakily. I was worried about his head. I knew that something about the last part seemed familiar to me, but I pushed that aside to make sure that the young priest was alright. His well being came before the details of the case on my opinion.

"If that is all, I suggest that we finish setting up the cameras." Naru said.

That was when my self control failed me. Looking up and my jerk, narcissist boss, I yelled "Naru, you can be such a jerk sometimes! You could have at least asked him if he was okay! He could have a concussion for all you know. But no, all you do is ask about the ghost and order us to keep working. You didn't even bother to say hello after three months of being gone! Did it ever occur to you that maybe we missed you? That we deserve more than just being brushed off after all this time?" Then I turned on my heel, not wanting to bother with him any more for the time being and started mumbling about him being a workaholic slave driver who didn't have anything that resembled a heart.

I was also worried about what he would say if I remained in his presence after questioning his authority like that. For one thing, I really liked my job, and I did not want to have to start looking for another one. That would be way too times consuming and inconvenient. I also didn't think that I could find a job that paid this well if I tried.

Monk was right on my tail, making sure that I didn't get into any trouble while I stewed.

* * *

Naru's POV:

That didn't take long. I mused as I looked after Mai. Actually had expected it yesterday after I asked her for tea without greeting her, or after that when I refused to say thank you to her. Or perhaps even this morning as I was constantly trying to get a rise out of her as she packed and unpacked the van, and yet she was doing everything in her power to not give in. It was almost frustrating. I liked to watch her face when she got worked up. It was amusing to say the least, and it seemed to help me focus whenever she yelled out the obvious. Not to mention it usually forced her to announce her own feelings on the case. Her outbursts were one of the few things I missed about Japan.

I had looked over John, and anyone could see that he was fine. Though, I was surprised at the two questions that she posed at the end of her little rant. I knew that she had missed me. It was obvious with the way that she was acting, but I didn't expect her to challenge me on why I was not acknowledging that it had been a while since I saw them all.

I honestly did not feel the need to declare such meaningless things. It was clear that everyone was glad I was back and that we were all going to be working together again. Anything else said would have been irrelevant and unneeded.

"Noll, you really shouldn't make her so angry. Not when we just got back," Lin sighed from behind me. I knew that he was starting to get protective over her as well. It was written all over him. And he had started smiling to her ever since the Bloodstained Labyrinth incident. It amazed me that she could get him to open up to her. If anything, I had known the man since I was a child, and I barely saw his smile at all. Not that I gave him many reasons to smile.

I ignored him as Takigawa went after Mai. I knew that she would be mostly cooled off by the time she saw me again, and then I would just ask for tea and watch as she gets riled up again. It was a cycle that I found to be almost fun. Not that I would let them know.

When John got up and went back to work, I also returned to the base to supervise everyone's progress and to make sure that Mai didn't mess up on the cameras. I could never be sure that she could do the job right, but I wouldn't have anyone else as my assistant.

I opened my note book and started to take notes. I had set up a new page for Mai. I put that she had a dream that probably pertained to the case before we even got here. I had a feeling that she would be showing a few other signs on this case as well. I also didn't want her to know that I was starting a file on her. She would probably flip out about that as well. It honestly didn't take much to upset her and her flaring temper.

That was also the reason I wrote the notes in English, a language I knew she was starting to study, but didn't know how to read yet. It also didn't help her case that I was also writing with a cipher. Unless she managed to gain a plethora of new brain cells, she would not be able to read this any time soon.

I also went ahead and looked through the new dream that she had written about the last case that Madoka had taken her on. I could tell that there was something missing. However, it was Mai, and she was prone to forgetting information at times. I wouldn't have been surprised if she simply let out a few things. What had struck me as odd, was the fact that in one portion she would go into extreme detail, and then the next happenstance would be recorded in a vague summery. It was almost like when she hadn't added in Gene before, only she swore up and down that he was not in her dreams anymore.

Another possibility that went through my head was that she just got lazy at times or was drifting off as she was writing. It had been known to happen from time to time.

With a shake of my head I continued to watch the cameras until everyone made it back into base. That included Takigawa and a now only slightly fuming Mai.

I inwardly smirked at her attitude before demanding tea. My internal self reveled in the few curses that came through her lips. That was more like it. I sent her a small glare on the outside, but I was just happy that she was acting like her usual self. Not that I would let anyone know that. My emotions were the one thing that I prided myself on masking and keeping hidden. It was a skill that I had been using since I was very little. I never thought it was good to let people in, that was probably the other reason that Gene was the opposite of me. Where I showed nothing, he showed everything freely. Almost like Mai did, actually.

Now that I could count on her to be herself, I turned to Yasu and asked "Have you found anything about this prison?"

Moving his glasses so that they glared in the light for a moment to build up a dramatic effect, the joker of the group looked through the notes that he had taken of the place before saying "The prison closed down nearly thirty years ago after being open for about fifty-six years. It was an all male prison, and during the time that it was open they had countless inmates die. One of the most violent incidences was a riot that went through the prison. It killed seventeen inmates, three guards, and one nurse who was working here at the time. After it was abandoned, no one really came into here. There are no other reports of this place until the three kids wandered in here and the youngest died."

After he was finished talking, e handed me a list of names of those who died. Giving him a nod I turned to the medium of the group and asked "Miss. Hara, what have you sensed here?"

She moved her sleeve up to cover the bottom portion of her face and I struggled to keep the annoyance off of my face. I knew that her answer was going to annoy me. She always had to act self-important when I asked her what she thought on a case. I also saw the satisfied smirk that she sent to Mai.

I did know of the tension between her and Mai, and I knew the cause of it. One would have to be stupid to not realize it. I had never interfered or tried to mediate the problem between the two because it was unnecessary. Besides; the competitiveness between them kept them both pushing themselves harder to come up with answers. I didn't even mind if it was all just to impress; as long as they were working.

"I can sense the presence of three spirits. There is the boy, a male, and a female that I believe to be the nurse that Yasuhara mentioned earlier. I cannot tell which emotions come from which spirit, but there is one that is filled with fear, one that is filled with the desire to protect, and another that is here out of their rage. They seemed to be weary of us and do not want to show themselves yet." Masako said as she made herself go into a faraway look, her eyes not quite focusing on anything in front of her to add to the effect.

I knew that this was a part of her show that she sold to the media, and I was not about to comment on it. If that was the way she wished to conduct herself, then so be it. I also noticed the stewing that Mai was doing as she seemed to be mocking Miss. Hara in her mind. It was, once again, amusing to say the least.

With a nod I checked the time. It was already getting very late, even for one of our investigations. It had taken longer than I had anticipated to set up the cameras. Though, that was probably due to the anger that Mai had to vent out and the carefree way of the other people that I called out here in order to have them work.

They all looked tired, so I decided that it was a good idea to call it a night. I needed them all at full strength in the morning. Of course I knew that I would not be sleeping, and neither would Lin, but that was our custom on the first night.

Dismissing them, I watched on the monitors to make sure that they all made it to their respective rooms in one piece. Though Mai might call me a slave driver from time to time, I do care about what happens to them. If anything, seeing as I am paying them to work for me, it is my responsibility if one of them gets hurt on a mission.

Or, at least, that is what I would say if someone called me out on it. The truth, as I am sure Lin has known for a while now, is that somehow I had opened up to them slightly, and I did not want that effort to go to waste.

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**A/N: Thank you all for reading. Once again, please let me know how I am doing and if I should post that crossover. **


	5. Case 2 Tag, Day 2-4

**A/N: Hello. I have returned! Okay, so I have no confidence in this chapter, so I apologize now for any mistakes and whatnot. I knew that I will strive to be better on the next chapter. Thank you all for reading, and please tell me how it it. **

**I do ****NOT**** own Ghost Hunt, at all!**

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Case 2: Tag

November

Day 2:

The Dream

The darkness that was my dream scape surrounded me like a security blanket. I couldn't help but notice how peaceful it was as I closed my eyes in the darkness. I caught myself thinking that it would only be better if this calm could continue in the real world.

I sighed at the thought. I was even surprised that I could tell that this was a dream. It wasn't like usual where I had to think about it for a minute. But then again I was not really having a vision at the moment. Or at least I didn't think that I was.

I saw a small shimmer of light to my right, and when I looked there was a dark wooden door. It had several locks on it as well. I felt as if I should open the door, but at the same time I wanted to stay away from it. I didn't even know if there was something in the room beyond the door or if I could open it. From the number of locks on it, I had a feeling that I would need a key at the very least.

Listening, I could hear music coming from the door. It wasn't like the music that I was used to hearing either; this was like something that one would hear at a formal party or something of the like. I reached out towards it, but I never did touch the door.

* * *

Mai's POV:

It was the middle of the day, and nothing had happened. Of course the Narcissist and the others had asked me if I had gotten any dreams that pertained to the case. I could tell that at least three on them were a little put out by her answer. Even if it had been months since I had a dream before that last case, they had all heard about my dreams coming back and wanted to hear more about them. Or see them in action. I couldn't tell them that they had come back because of some Raven that had started to visit me in my dreams. Or, something told me not to tell them about that.

But, whatever, all I wanted to do was stay as far away from Naru as possible. I couldn't believe that guy. I was awake for all of ten seconds before he ordered me to make him his precious tea. If he wanted it so badly, why couldn't he make it himself or have Lin do it? Stupid narcissistic jerk.

With a sigh I continued to take the temperature readings like I had been told. Of course I should have taken someone with me, but I hadn't been thinking. Not to mention I didn't want to bother any of them when I hadn't felt anything since John got pushed. It would have been a waste of time and energy for the other person.

So here I was by the camera I was at when John got pushed down the stairs, sitting down and waiting for the thermometer to tell me if this place was colder than the rest of the prison. Sitting there, I know that I was about to doze off again. But I also knew that it wouldn't have been a good idea.

Just as my eyelids drooped, the thermometer started to beep at me. Picking it up, I was about to write down the temperature, but I noticed that it wasn't working.

"Humph, the battery must have died," I mumbled to myself. Picking it up to go back to base and tell Naru about it, I couldn't help but feel nervous. He always made sure that the batteries were charged, he was so gunna accuse me of breaking even more equipment. How much of a debt was I going t pick up? I knew that he had insurance, but that might not stop him from docking my pay or something.

I was maybe five feet from the camera when the door to my right opened up and I was shoved roughly into it. I screamed as loud as I could as I spun around, expecting to see someone. Clutching the side that was shoved, I was really afraid when I saw that there was no one there. I only started to panic even more when the door slammed shut.

I knew that I had been right in front of the camera though, so Naru had to have seen me getting shoved. He always paid attention to the monitors, or at least I knew that Lin always did. And I had screamed. They always came when I screamed. I knew because literally every time that I so much as squeaked loudly, they had heard me and came running in. I knew that they would be coming now. They had to be. They always came! Yeah, panic was running through me by this point. And I didn't like it at all.

Moving to the door, I was just about to try and open it when I felt a shiver go through the room and down my spine. It caused me to temporarily forget the door as I looked around the room. My breathing had spiraled out of my control and I found myself struggling not to hyperventilate.

"Don't leave," an echoing voice said close to my ear. My breath hitched as the temperature in the room got even colder.

"W-who are you?" I squeaked as my eyes darted around the room. I had a feeling that I should somewhat listen to the thing with me. But when did I ever do what I thought was right in situations like this? I also knew that help could be just on the other side of the door. So I pushed away that feeling as I kept making my way to the door.

"They…out there…safe…you…stay," I heard some of what the voice was saying as I began to shake uncontrollably.

I reached for the door once again; I will freely admit that I was thoroughly afraid of whatever the hell was in this room with me. I needed to get out. I needed Naru. But as I went to reach for the door again, I felt something small wrap around my arm, and it pulled me back and away from the door.

"No!" A shill yell called.

I screamed again, this time as loud as possible. I wasn't hurt, but I needed to get out of here, and I knew that was probably the fastest way to get the others to come and save me.

"On nōmaku sanmanda basaradan kan!" I heard the familiar chant as the door finally came open.

As the temperature finally came back t normal, I ran towards Monk and wrapped my arms around his middle. I barely even noticed that the others were right outside of the room as well. I was just so relieved that I was saved! That feeling was short lived, however.

"Mai, explain what happened," Naru ordered as he came into view. No 'are you okay,' or anything of the sort. He just waltzed right in and ordered me to speak right after I had been attacked. Well that showed some people where his priorities were. Not where they should have been

Have you ever just wanted to revel in the feeling of being safe for once and not having some creepy ghost lock you into a room? Well someone obviously did not understand that concept at all! I mean, you would think that he would appreciate that I was just in a life endangering encounter and would attempt to comfort me. But no, Naru the Narcissist had to just rub it in that he never got scared and that he was the all powerful genius who deserved to be worshiped.

But then a little voice inside of my head asked 'Maybe him telling you to say what happened is really just his way of asking if you are hurt.'

I blushed slightly at that thought as I relayed the events that had transpired to my boss. Of course my version was paraphrased somewhat. I wasn't about to say everything again, he didn't want to know that. Just that I was pushed and what the thing said was good enough I didn't have to say all of my thoughts and feelings. It wasn't like he would care anyway.

"Mai, why were you wandering around alone? You should know better than that by now!" He then tried to scold me.

I wasn't really listening though, or let's just say that I really didn't take what he was saying to heart. "Yeah, yeah I'm sorry, it won't happen again, I just didn't want any of them to go out of their way for me." I smiled nervously at him with my arms flailing slightly in front of me. It would take an idiot not to know that there was absolutely no sincerity in my words at all.

So when he gave me the look that told me he didn't buy it, I just shrugged it off. He could look at me as skeptically as he wanted. His concern just meant that he somewhat cared about me, and that thought made me immensely happy.

Scowling, he said "At least we got some good video from this incident. I expect you to be more careful in the future." And then he turned on his heel and left. I was surprised that the sole of his shoe didn't leave a scuff mark with how quickly he turned on it.

"What did he mean?" I asked Monk as he walked beside me.

"After you got shoved into the room, there was a fog on the monitor. I think that we could all see two faces that were facing each other. Once was standing right outside the room you were in and the other was a few feet away." Monk answered with a shrug.

We were all on edge after that. I think that we were all waiting for something new to happen. But after I got attacked there was nothing.

* * *

Day 3

Nothing happened on the third day. I could tell that over all the entire team was bored. Monk even had the audacity to try and force me to sleep because of it. He had a pillow and everything. As if he didn't learn his lesson last time he tried that and it didn't work.

I think that my exact words to him were "Monk, I'm not tired! I have had all of two dreams since it started up again. Do you really think that it would just come back and give me a dream every day? Are you trying to tell me that I'm useless or something? I can't just fall asleep and have a vision. You should know that I have no control over it!"

I think that he understood, because he stopped pestering me about it. Of course, Ayako then had to insinuate that she was more useful that I was now that I wasn't having visions. That was not fun. Masako also wasn't getting anything though, so it was alright. I wasn't the only one being useless. And Ayako still hadn't been useful since she had done that one exorcism when Naru was out for the count. It was kind of frustrating that they had to rub it in.

And to top it all off, Naru and Lin were up to something. Of course I was used to watching both men leave randomly at odd hours. But I was not used to them stopping whatever it was that they were talking about when I came into the room. That right there just put me on edge and frankly, it made me want to punch something. He was frustrating me to no end. I was his freaking assistant, and he was keeping thing from me. I just knew it!

At least we narrowed our hubs of activity based off of the temperatures I had gotten and the experiences from the other day. The three places that we had to watch were the hall way that I had been attacked in, the stairwell where john was pushed, and the nurses office where some of the microphones had picked up a few noises during the night and it had low temperature readings. He had already sent John and Monk to go and try to exorcise the places, but they all didn't think that it was doing much. And I had to agree with them on that.

Let's just say that I was thrilled when the day finally came to a close. I needed a break, and some sleep.

* * *

The Dream:

"Where am I?" I asked when I opened my eyes. The last thing that I remembered had been talking with Ayako. Well, more like arguing. She was trying to get me to go on this date with someone she knew who was interning at the hospital her parents owned.

I looked around and I saw the Raven perched on the railing of the stairwell. And that was when I found that I was standing about half way up the stairs, and I was watching someone coming from the floor above. This was a dream. I knew that now. It was a dream with the Raven guiding me through the vision.

I saw that the thing come towards me was that man. He was leading the boy. I wanted to go up and tell the boy to get away from him, but something told me otherwise. I wasn't afraid of him. I even felt as if I could trust him with the kid's safety. But I didn't understand why I felt that way.

I looked at the Raven, hoping quietly that he could speak to me and tell me what was going on. But all he did was start to waddle down the railing, following the man and the boy. So I followed as well. I followed the man as he led the child away. I almost felt as if he was trying to get the kid out of the prison. Leading him away from something.

I followed, but they faded, and I as once again just standing alone in the prison. Well, as alone as one can be with the Raven right there as well. I think that I was finally getting used to him in a strange way.

With a caw, he started to fly back the way we had come and up the stairs.

"Wait," I called out as I tried to follow him. I was afraid to be alone. I knew that I shouldn't be left alone when I was dreaming. I remembered how much that Gene helped me and I didn't want to get into a situation where I needed someone's help!

I ran until I found myself in the nurse's office. That was when the flying black guide finally landed on the bed post of the first bed that he came to.

"NO, it's all wrong. They are wrong, they all deserve nothing! If here, I will have justice. How dare they tell? How dare they!" I heard a voice from the room. I looked around, and I found a woman as she paced back and forth. Her graying hair was wild and matted as she waved her hands as if she was mad.

I watched her for a minute as she continued to ramble. And then she turned towards me.

My breath caught as she launched herself towards me, yelling unintelligible gibberish.

Just as she was about to hit me, the Raven flashed his talons and forced her away. He cawed and flapped as he protected me, and that was about when I let go of all of the rest of my worries about the Raven and began to trust him unconditionally. He had just saved me. Maybe, well, he did if it was possible to die in a dream.

"Get out! Get out of here! If you say anything, I will kill you!" She yelled at me as she attempted to get at me again while avoiding the Raven.

* * *

Mai's POV:

I woke up with a start again. And it was embarrassing. I jumped out of my bed so fast, that my legs got caught in the covers and I ended up off the bed and flat on my face.

Of course Masako and Ayako were right there too. And I couldn't get them to stop laughing at me. Of course Ayako was okay because she laughed openly while clutching her sides. It was Masako that really seemed to put me in a bad mood. She stood there with her mouth covering what I knew was a smirk as she looked at me with laughing eyes.

And then she had to make a freaking comment. "You know, Naru should really look for an assistant who has a better sense of balance. Then maybe there would be less of a chance of equipment breaking."

It took Ayako about fifteen minutes to get me and Masako out of out glaring match and decent enough to go to base. Of course by that time, I knew that I was forgetting about something. It was on the edge of my mind that I was supposed to be telling Naru something, but whatever. I knew that if it was important, I would remember it eventually.

I was once again in the kitchen making tea for the tenth time that morning when something actually happened. It was kind of a relief, seeing as nothing had happened for quite some time. But at the same time it wasn't exactly the best thing that could have happened.

A crash was heard, and of course I ran to go and see if I could help whoever was in trouble. I did not expect there to be no one there. It was the nurse's office, and I happened to have been the first one to get there. There was no one there. And yes, even me; the person that Naru had called idiot dozens and dozens of times, could tell that it had to have been the work of the spirit. And I knew just what spirit it was too. It had to be that woman. The one who looked like she was crazy!

"Mai, what are you doing here? Are you alright?" Monk asked as he came around the corner. Naru and Lin were right behind him, and I guessed that the others weren't that far off either.

"Oh, I heard the crash and came to see if it was one of you guys. But it looks like it was just the crazy spirit." I answered with a smile as I started to get away from the open door that led to where the spirit was. I knew that it was smartest to stay away from it for now.

"Idiot, what happened if there was something else here?" Naru asked as I was surrounded by them. Of course I was surrounded by them, I always was. I don't think that any of them trusted me when I was out of their sight. I was way too much of a ghost magnet for that. But even that hurt slightly.

Then there was Naru and how he was making me feel. First case back and I couldn't stand him gain. Damn it, I needed to have a real conversation with him! I did not need to be avoiding him. All because he had to over examine a simple love confession! Next time we were in the office and he ordered tea, I was going to force him to talk with me!

Yeah, Mai, like that would really happen. I do realize that Naru does what he wants.

"That's why I didn't go in," I said as if it was obvious. Then I looked at the door and added "Though, I think that she is crazy. In my dream she kept talking about how they were all wrong and that she would kill who ever talked. But I don't get why she said all of that."

"You had a dream and you just happened to forget to tell me about it?" Naru asked. I could hear the icy tone in his voice, and I knew that he was pissed! I felt really bad now. I knew then that I was a dead person.

That was what I had forgotten to do. I totally forget to tell Naru about my dream, and now I was about to get the lecture from him. "Yeah, sorry, I forgot about it." I said as I laughed nervously.

And just from the glare that he gave me, I knew that I was dead meat.

* * *

**A/N: Once again, I hope that you liked that and please tell me what you thought. And I think that was the right chant for Monk. I could have gotten off my lazy butt and just watched one of he subbed episodes, but, eh, whatever. **


	6. Case 2: Tag, Day 4-5

**A/N: so, I didn't mean to take that long, but I was kind of blocked out for some reason. But here I am, back from the dead in this story with another chapter ready for you all. I really hope that you like it, and I really do love it when you all review. It makes me write so much faster for some reason. I think its just cus I know that I'm not the only on who is liking the story. **

**I do not own Ghost Hunt at all. T-T**

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Case 2: Tag

November

Day 4:

After Naru wrung every single inconsequential detail that he could from me, he ordered everyone to go off and do a walk through and see if they could sense anything that either confirmed my dream or just gave them something else to think about.

Of course all through my explanation of what had happened in my dream world I did not utter a single word about the Raven. I think that I was finally starting to accept him as my guide, though I still go the feeling that I shouldn't be telling them about his anytime soon. It was like when I refused to tell anyone about Dream Naru, only this time it was purely because it seemed to not want me to and not because I was embarrassed to be dreaming of my really hot narcissistic boss.

After everyone had come back, Masako decided that it was her time to talk about what she had decided was the truth surrounding the place. It seemed as if she was just waiting for the spot light to be placed in front of her in order to actually tell everyone what she sensed. And of course I had to ball up my fists to keep myself from rolling my eyes at her when she started with her dramatic crap.

With her kimono sleeve covering her mouth, she looked up and said in the weakest voice she could muster "It is terrible. I can sense three spirits are present in this place. They are all suffering so much. The little boy is here. He just wishes to be found and to play a different game. The man was clearly a prisoner but he is always with the little boy. The final one that I can sense is the woman. She is suffering greatly from her anger and fear. She, I believe, is still clinging to the fears she had in life and while she is hear the other two are trapped along with her."

I mean really, I could have told him that. But I will admit that Masako did look a little pail after she said that. I wandered if she was feeling alright, but before I could ask I remembered that she would probably bite my head off for trying to be friendly. She always seemed to be doing that anyway. Even in the worst of places she could find something around us to hold over my head. It was down right annoying. So I decided that Ayako could decide how to annoy her later.

"Father Brown, Takigawa, and Miss. Matsuzaki, I want the three of you to try and exercise the places with activity. Takigawa will take the stairway, Father Brown the hallway and Miss. Matsuzaki will take the nurses office." Naru ordered before he spun on his heel and left with his chin captured in between his thumb and pointer finger in thought.

I knew that he had probably just thought of something very important, and even if I was inclined to ask I knew that he would just insult my intelligence. Looking at the others, I could see most of them were looking after his retreating figure wondering the same thing that I was. It was not a nice feeling to be left completely in the dark about things like this, and I was slightly angry about it. Then again it seemed to happen every single time.

I was about to follow him back to base when I heard him call over his "Mai, tea," and keep walking.

I think that steam come off of the top of my head with how angry I was at him for doing that. The least he could have done was say please. But no, I never got that ever. Stupid narcissist.

I think I continued to rant in my head all through the tea making process. But by the time that I got it to him I had quieted the inner voice and simply gave it to him and turned away without looking directly at him. I wanted to let him know that I was angry, but at the same time I wanted to show that I could be objective and work on my job as well as be angry at him.

I was multitasking!

Yes, I was completely capable of such a feat, no thanks to Mr. Narcissist in the room. He really should give me more credit.

Anyway, right after I got back to the base I saw that everyone was ready and heading out to try and rid the spirits from the various arias that they had been assigned. Soon the base was conveying the three different chants.

I will admit it right now that I loved to listen to the chants. Even when they didn't seem to do anything, I found it relaxing when I wasn't there in the same room as them and a potentially dangerous spirit. That was also only when nothing was happening and I was well out of the rooms and away when they did this. Of course we were all looking at the monitors when they were doing their thing. I for one didn't want to miss seeing anything that was going to happen.

Of course, something did happen, but this time it wasn't a good thing.

I was watching Ayako to see if she was able to do anything, maybe I was also hoping she wasn't so that I could still be more useful than she was, when I saw the mist form in front of her. Of course I called out to Naru. He looked over just as I saw a hand materialize and reach out for Ayako. And the worst part was that she didn't even seem to realize that it was happening.

That was when I decided that I had to do something. So, like I usually do, I ran out of there as fast as I could without thinking in order to help Ayako. I didn't think that I actually could do anything, but I wanted to help at the very least! I just barely heard Naru as he called out after me, but I was already too far away for him to stop me.

"Ayako, look out!" I yelled as I neared the nurse's office door. I heard some shuffling just before I rushed into the room. I came just in time to watch as Ayako was forced to the ground by a powerful push.

I ran over to her, or at least that was my plan. I didn't expect to get thrown into the wall before I could even get within two feet of her. A sickening crack of my head hitting the wall before everything went blurry. A deep voice that seemed so close but at the same time so near seemed to be calling out to me, but I couldn't for the life of me understand what it was asking me.

My brown eyes met with indigo ones and I blinked. Only I was never able to open my eyes back up. Everything went dark and still after that.

* * *

The Dream

"Where am I?" I asked as I looked around the room. It was the nurse's office that I was sure about, but that was also all that I could tell. But Ayako and Naru weren't there. I was sure that they had been there before. Another thing, I was standing on the other side of the Nurse's office. I was about as far away from the entrance as I could be. It was so weird. I decided that I should go to the base, but before I could get to the door, it opened and a man and a woman walked through.

"I told you that if you don't keep your silence, I will end you!" The woman hissed with anger almost shining through her eyes. I also thought that they would set something on fire with the amount of anger that was in them.

The man seemed to scoff at her. "What the hell can you do to me in here? I was the innocent one, and so it was your fault. I did all of this far you, and now look at what you're doing! You're crazy!" He was also on the verge of yelling, but somehow had managed to hold it in so far.

I felt like I was intruding, so I started to back up, maybe get past the two. But a soft ruffling of feathers led me to look to the bed behind me and see that the Raven was here with me. Then it clicked.

"So this is a dream," I whispered to myself as I watched the man and woman continue to argue with each other.

Things seemed to be getting heated, and before I knew it, I saw the nurse pull a syringe out from her white coat's pocket and I yelled out as she stabbed it into the junction where the man's neck and shoulder connected. Then she pushed the plunger and I watched in horror as the man started his slow decent to the ground.

With my hands covering my mouth, I could do nothing but watch as she started to cackle. Then she left the room, and I don't know why, but I was compelled to follow. I did, and I saw her go out into the common area and soon there were a lot of fights going on. I really didn't want to watch anymore as the one fight became a riot and soon the nurse was laying there dead with her face still showing that crazy smile that she had on her face when she was cackling.

I looked to my right and I saw the man who had died in his ghost form looking at the fallen woman with the look of pity radiating in his eyes. The look on his face said it all. He was sad, he was betrayed, and he pitied the girl who he had once loved. I don't know how I knew that he had loved her at some point, but I knew it.

It was then that I felt the talons of the Raven on my shoulder. No sooner had I felt them then the scene changed. This time I was with a small group of children, and one turned to count as the other two ran different ways to look for a hiding spot.

I recognized the boy right away, and so I followed him. But the dream faded as I did until I could no longer see anything. But I felt the anger. I couldn't handle the feeling of hatred; it was so dark that I couldn't seem to figure out what exactly it was aimed at.

* * *

Day 5

When my eyes opened, I was back in the room that we were using as a base. I tried to blink the blurry edges out of my sight as I looked around to find the other huddled in a circle. I could already guess that they were going to carry on as if I was not just knocked out. With a sigh I tried to stand, once again much too fast for my body, and ended up flat on my face just as the others seemed to break to go and do whatever it was that Naru had dictated they do.

He could at least how that he cared, but no, I had a feeling that he had probably just insulted everyone's intelligence besides that of Lin and then told them to do what he said without explaining why and what he was planning. How did I know this you ask? Well that is always what he is doing when he talks to everyone at once. There was defiantly a pattern to these things.

When he finally looked over to me he heaved a sigh and shook his head slightly as he muttered "Idiot."

Internally fuming I asked "What are you doing now Naru?" Of course I wanted to know what they were planning so that I could tell him the important points of my dream before the others could get in trouble. I really didn't like it that we always ran into trouble whenever we were on a case. Why couldn't we just go into a haunted house where the ghosts were nice and helpful?

Don't answer that.

Without answering my question, Naru walked over the monitors, and I took that as a cue to follow him. And what I saw managed to make me panic, again.

Naru had decided that it was a good idea to set people out again. Only this time he had put John in the Nurses Office to try and make sure that this time around would prove more fruitful. And I was the only one who knew that the woman there was crazy! I knew that if I didn't say something now, something terrible could happen to John!

"Naru, you have to warn John! It was her! She was the Nurse, and she killed the inmate, and she killed the boy, and she is crazy! You have to tell John!" I nearly shouted at him as I spun on my heel with every intention of going to him and warning him. I couldn't lose my big brother! I needed him the most when it came to my sanity with emotions! Yasu was great and all, but no one could compare to the priest!

"We already know that," He waved my off as he grabbed my wrist in an attempt to keep me firmly planted in the base.

Alright, I will admit it, when his hand wrapped around my wrist, I totally forgot about what I was just doing and blushed a beautiful shade of red. I mean, Naru, the insensitive, tea addicted, jerk was actually voluntarily touching me and it wasn't because I was in trouble or danger at the moment. It was everything I had ever dreamed of. Now if he would only—never mind.

Why did he have that affect on me? After a second of blushing like mad and mentally acting like the school girl I was, my mind was brought back into reality by his voice as he calmly explained how he was the best ever at connecting the pieces and that he had a suspicion about this from the start.

"It wasn't that difficult to connect the pieces. Since we have been here the only activity that has seemed to be violent had come from the woman. It even seemed as if the man had been protecting you at one point. That only left the woman to be the one. Though, it was through the research that I had sent Yasu for that I got my proof. You see, the Nurse was questioned during the trial of one of the men that was here. The prison clearly did not do a thorough background check on her, and she must have enacted her revenge shortly after coming here. Of course that caused the riot that ended her life as well." He lectured.

With a nod I turned to watch as John began his prayer. Or I should probably say that he started his exorcism. As I saw the holy water get flicked through the air, I said "I think that she was mad. She was screeching about people telling her secret and knowing about her. It was like her whole mind had been eaten by the idea that he was going to tell them what she had done."

Naru seemed to look at me for a moment and I wondered what my face showed. I felt sorry for her. Or was it pity? I couldn't tell, but I knew I felt something towards her.

"Well, after this there won't be any more problems around here." Naru said.

As if on cue, the woman appeared and was screaming at John just as she was forced to move on. I looked away from that part. I don't know why, but I felt something else call out for my attention, and I could not deny that I heard the slight ruffle of feathers coming from behind me. It was nothing that was too noticeable, but I guess that my ears had begun to get used to listening for the noise, making it that much more noticeable to me.

There in the doorway stood the man and the boy. I don't know why they were there, but they both offered a smile and a wave before they began to disappear. The last thing that I saw was the boy tapping the man on the arm and calling out 'tag' before he ran away with a giggle. The man smiled and nodded once.

And with that another case was solved. The man and the boy passed on after the woman was no longer there to cause trouble. I also decided that I couldn't stay mad at Naru forever. Let's see how long it will take for him to make me angry again. I think that Monk and Ayako have a bet going with John as the bank.

**A/N: and that is it. I don't know why I put in more sarcasm than usual, but I couldn't hep myself. I hope that you enjoyed that, and thank you all so much for reading! Until next time! Oh and I'm sorry for any mistakes, I have a huge headache and decided to forgo going through this with a fine tooth comb for the moment.  
**


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